by Megan McCoy
Only hesitating a second, she grabbed it and let him mostly pull her out. Standing too close to him, she looked up into his eyes, and said softly, “I suddenly think this is going to be a very interesting summer.”
He threw his head back and laughed, “We aim to please, Candy. You try to do the same.”
She bit her tongue before she said, “Yes, sir.” Wise move, she decided.
Chapter Four
“Any questions?” Cassandra looked out over the sullen crowd of mostly teenagers. Yeah. No. She was not getting questions and she probably wasn’t getting cooperation. At least for a while. In her experience, she had learned that rotating teams of two that changed worked more efficiently in the long run, versus a single person, or a stable pair always working together.
But, she had just changed their housekeeping routine from a single person, to two, and added the rotating schedule. No one was happy.
Yet.
But she’d watched their current routine. They liked to walk in, flip on the TV, and clean at their pace—in their own way. With two people, especially with rotating partners, you never knew who would complain to the boss, so you worked harder.
She rarely got complaints about the other half of a team, but no one needed to know that, or that she wasn’t going to make a no TV rule. Though it would be up to each team to decide on the shows they listened to while they worked and she wasn’t getting involved in that, but she realized some of them would have their music ear buds in anyway. It would work out. How many channels could they get out here, anyway? She felt quite certain there were no racy movie channels for her to worry about. She put it on her list of things to double check, though.
Looking around at the crowd in front of her, she also knew, sadly, she was going to have to fire someone to get her authority across, sooner or later. It always happened. My way or the highway. She’d seen it before when she came in to an already established hotel and then she shook things up. No one believed she really had authority, till she proved it and usually it had to be by firing someone. She hated firing people, still, though she’d done it more times than she could count over the years.
“Okay, you all have your team assignments and the new cleaning routine for the rooms. Just go down the list and check things off as they are finished. You are either an A or B team member, and you will do those jobs, on that piece of paper, in that order. I’ll be popping in and out all day if you have any questions or issues for me. If you can’t find me, then check in with Barb in the laundry room. She can text me, and I’ll come running.”
Barb, a deeply tanned, weather-worn thirty-something brunette with a big smile and a very short pixie cut, headed to the front as most of the people headed out, carrying their waves of disapproval with them.
“Hey, what did you have to go and involve me in that mess for,” she complained good-naturedly.
Cassandra smiled back at her. “I’m sorry, but I can’t take all the heat, can I?” She’d sat down with Barb earlier that morning and they had discussed the new regime. Both knew that it wasn’t going to go over well, but Barb agreed it was needed. Like Barb had said though, most of the teenagers hired for the summer started out doing pretty well, enthusiastic, excited about having a job and the paycheck, but by the time the season got into full swing, they started to slack off. By pairing them up in randomly selected teams maybe that would change this year. Or maybe it wouldn’t. She’d find out. She’d reevaluate in a few weeks, and of course, was looking forward to talking it over with Jeb in their board meetings. Get his input.
She’d like to get his put in her, she thought with a smile.
Get your mind out of the gutter and his pants! She scolded herself.
They went over a few other things, and then Cassandra decided she’d pop over to the kitchen and check in on Mariah and her group before making some rounds with the housekeeping staff. Give them a little time to settle in and complain about her, get some of that out of their system before she chatted with them.
Walking out the door, she smiled, thrilled to see Jeb ride up on a gorgeous black horse. Some eye candy was just what was needed right now.
“Hey, Candy,” he said, slowing the horse. “Where you heading?”
“Over to the kitchen for a bit,” she said, looking way up. Horses were big. How did she not know how big they were? “How about you?”
“Going to the field out on the back eighty. Check on some fence and see the foals.” He hesitated, just a second, then asked, “You want a ride to the kitchen?”
“On that?” she gasped. “I’ve never been on a horse.”
“Then its time you were,” he said. He kicked a booted foot out of a stirrup, and motioned for her to put hers in there. Cassandra didn’t think she’d lifted her leg that high since, well, ever. How did he get on there?
Jeb reached a hand down and said quietly, “Other foot.”
Blushing, she realized she would have been backwards on the horse with that foot. But before she could think of much else, she got her foot up into the stirrup, he had her hand, and basically boosted and pulled her up behind him.
“Every teenage girl’s dream,” she whispered, grabbing him around his taut waist.
“Riding a horse with a handsome cowboy?” he said, with an obvious teasing tone in his voice. She loved that tone!
“Yeah, exactly that,” she sighed, happily, then hugged him harder, suddenly nervous. “We’re moving!”
“Yeah, that’s how we get from one place to another,” he laughed. He laughed out loud!
She liked it.
“Hang on. You’ll be okay.”
“Promise?” she said, trying not to let her voice rise. How fast were they going to go? They were so high off the ground, and the horse was just—
“He snorted!” she shrieked as the horse lifted his head and whinnied.
“He didn’t mean anything by it,” Jeb assured her.
She tried to feel comforted by his tone. He’d been doing this a long time. No reason for her to be worried at all, she assured herself. “Then why did he do that?” she asked, and scooted even closer to him. The scent of horse, man, and leather filled her nose and she wondered why no one had bottled it. She was going to figure out how to do and make a fortune. Who wouldn’t want it?
“He’s just talking. You keep talking, don’t you? He likes to talk, too.”
Cassandra felt Jeb make a movement with his knees because her legs were clamped as close to his as she could get them to be. The horse slowed a bit and she took a deep breath, in an attempt to calm herself, but once she got another deep breath of Jeb, horse, leather, that failed. Totally. Heart racing and breath quickening, she clutched him tighter. Yeah. That helped.
Not.
Even though she didn’t know her way around the place as well as she would soon, Cassandra realized that Jeb was taking the long way around to the kitchen. She tried to relax and just enjoy the ride. After all, she’d wanted to be on a horse since she was a child. This was her boss, so she sure wasn’t going to get into trouble for not being somewhere at a certain time. But, damn, it was hard to relax with a moving mountain of muscle under her and a hard hot cowboy in front of her, clutched tightly in her arms. Wasn’t this like a romance novel dream come true? Oh yeah. Pretty sure.
“Where are we going?” she said in his ear, trying to focus on making words coming out of her mouth.
“Does it matter?” he asked.
“You’re the boss,” she said, and grabbed him just a bit tighter. Did she need to? No. Just wanted to, and enjoyed it, and what was wrong with that? Not a darn thing. He didn’t seem to mind it, either. That worked. They seemed to be heading toward the lake. Board meeting time? Trying to clear her head, she asked, “Does it have a name?”
“Does what have a name? The lake?” He nudged his knees again, and the horse moved faster, and she clutched him harder and tried not to squeal. Her butt kept slapping up and down. How did someone stop that? His wasn’t. He just sat.
“His name is Charlie Three,” Jeb said, and slowed him again. She sighed happily as her bottom stayed on the horse’s butt instead of rising in the air then a slam repeatedly down.
“Charlie Three?” she asked, inhaling her new favorite scent with a deep sucked in breath of happiness.
“Blaze’s mom named his grandpa St. Charles, after the town she came from in Missouri and wanted to live in again,” he turned the big horse toward the lake again, when it seemed to wander a different way. How did you steer such a monstrous thing with that little strap? “He’s the third Charlie.”
“I’ve heard she’s back there now. I hope she’s happy,” Cassandra said quietly, starting to relax against his hard back.
“She is,” Jeb said. “We see her once in a while. She will come to one of Blaze’s things, or just to see him if he hasn’t been up there for a while. She’s remarried now, and seems happy.”
“What about Matt’s mom?” She knew that she’d passed away, but no one seemed to want to say any details. There seemed to be some mystery but she hadn’t figured it out yet. But she had all summer. She’d find out at some point. Right now, the journey was fun.
She, well, yes, she snuggled into him while they walked out toward the lake, he’d called it a lake though it wasn’t anything like Lake Michigan. She wasn’t sure, or sure it mattered what exactly it was, however. “I assume she is the Rose the ranch is named for?”
She felt him tense, then take a deep breath while she admired the strength in his body, wondering what that would feel like on top of her. It had been too long. That’s all it was. Nothing more. Just a physical reaction. She was a normal female, in the prime of her life! Allowed to feel a physical attraction to a male she had in her arms. Nothing more. Nothing else. She felt certain of that.
Who the hell was she kidding?
When had she started cursing in her thoughts?
Suddenly the horse—Charlie Three—began doing something weird. Running? Galloping? Cassandra tensed and began to protest, then realized, she was on a horse with a cowboy who knew horses. He either told the horse to do it, or he’d get it under control. There was nothing she could say or do to change anything. Trust could be challenging in the best of times. Right now, she was going to hang on to her boss, Jeb, and hopefully, this bouncing against her butt would be over soon.
Burying her head against his back, she wondered how sore she’d be tonight when she got off this beast. Was it everything she’s wondered and dreamed about when she was a kid? Perhaps, but the horse between her legs was not what she was thinking of now. As big as he was, he seemed to fade into the background of her daydreams. Somehow this man, this male, seemed bigger and stronger and more real than the horse whose back her backside slammed into. Clutching him tighter was the only right and proper response she realized. It was just smart. The correct thing to do. She clenched tighter with her knees trying to just not fall off or to bounce so much but ow!
The horse finally slowed to a walk, and only then did he speak. She strained to hear his soft words. “Rose passed away when Blaze was very young. Had a stroke and was just gone. I’d stepped outside with my coffee because I heard the horses hollering, looked around, figured it was nothing, or a critter the dogs chased off, and came back in. Matt was working, we were watching the grandson and he was still sitting at the table eating his pancakes and she was on the floor in the pantry.” He paused. “She loved this ranch more than anything. All she wanted out of life was to live here, have a slew of kids and critters, feed people, and be my wife. It’s all I wanted, too.”
Cassandra didn’t know what to say. Her guy had cheated on her. Big whooping deal. It had felt like it at the time, but now? Well, really not. Who cared about Tyler right now when her arms and body were full of Jeb? Not her, for sure.
“I’m sorry. I truly can’t imagine how hard that was,” she said equally as softly into his very close ear. The snuggling up was involuntary. She was certain.
“Charlie wants a drink,” he said, and stopped the horse.
“What do we do about that?” She asked, curious. Surely, horses didn’t drink from water bottles?
“Unless you want to get soaked, we get off and let him go get one, in the lake,” he said with more than a hint of amusement in his voice and with little of the sadness a few minutes before. Well, that made sense. His wife had been dead a long time, long enough for his grandson to grow up. Sadness should be fleeting at this point in time. Normal but fleeting. She was sad about Tyler dumping her, sad about her dad passing. Grief happened on its own timetable but if she were still sobbing in her beer every night, she’d need therapy.
She didn’t need therapy, but dang, she’d like a good hard pounding. Not the kind the horses would give her for riding. But… well… Cassandra thrust that thought from her mind, as she asked him, “How do I get off?”
“Well, first you wait till we move to a flat space,” he said and urged the horse forward.
She loved the movement of his legs as he commanded the horse without a word. How long did it take to learn something like that? It seemed like it was second nature to him.
“Now, I moved my foot. Put yours in the stirrup and swing the other leg back and over. I’ll help you down the rest of the way. Grab hold of my arm.”
Doing as she was told seemed smart. So she did, but while she did, the thought of her duties flashed to the front of her mind. While she was still with her boss, and doing what he told her, she wondered if this was a test. Should she protest and demand to be taken back to work? Somehow, she didn’t think he was the type that demanding anything would get her far. Well, a token protest, then perhaps.
Jeb dismounted the horse and dropped the reins, letting him wander to the lake.
“Won’t he run away?” Cassandra asked, nervously. How far was it back to the lodge? Lucky for her, she had on her sturdy walking shoes instead of her fancy sandals. Just in case.
“Hope not. How about you?” he squeezed her hand and let it go. “He just wants a drink, then he will be as glad to get back to the ranch as we are.”
“I was getting a little nervous the boss would be mad I was gone so long,” she confessed watching in awe as the gorgeous horse waded into the lake and drank deeply.
“I have an in with the boss. I don’t think you have much to worry about,” he said, and grabbed her hand again, then pulled her closer so she sheltered under his arm.
“He’s so pretty,” she said, watching the rippling muscles move. Horse love forever. If she was twittering, she’d hashtag that.
“He is, isn’t he?” Jeb said, watching too. “Nothing finer than horseflesh. Unless it’s woman flesh.”
Cassandra laughed nervously. “There are a lot of hot males around here too,” she said, eyes still firmly on the horse, which still waded and drank.
“It’s a ranch,” he said, solemnly. “We raise them that way. It’s in the water.”
“What is,” she asked, confused and for some reason, barely able to catch her breath. All she wanted was for him to kiss her. But that should not be. He was her boss. Kissing was not in her job description. Well, it had been a couple weeks since she’d signed the contract, but she was pretty sure it wasn’t!
This man, this grandfather, made her feel like a giddy teenager, and all she wanted was more of him, and to be with him. Despite the fact he was her boss, despite the fact…oh hell.
He pulled her into his arms, and she did not protest. Did not want to. Did not think of it.
He kissed her. At first, he was gentle, sweet, a few closed mouthed lip-to-lip gentle pecks, suddenly he delved. Moaning, she pushed herself into his thrusting tongue and melted as he held her firmly. All she wanted was more tongue, more him, as he thrust and demanded and his strong arms pulled her closer and held her tighter. Cassandra felt overwhelmed but she didn’t protest. In fact, she softened into his arms. This was the kissing s
he’d waited for all her life. Finally, she knew how it felt to be consumed by a male mouth and why had she waited so long for the right consuming. Hot. Hard. Demanding. Domineering, and yet totally accepting and all she wanted was that tongue and that mouth everywhere on her.
Then he slowed his demands upon her and yet still held her close as she licked her swollen lips.
She pulled back and looked up at him. “Do you kiss all your general managers?”
Jeb laughed and pulled her back closer again. “Actually, I think I do.”
He nuzzled her neck and she felt the heat rise in places it shouldn’t. But, why shouldn’t it? She was single. He was single. There was no reason two mature adults couldn’t have a very good time together. Soon. She hoped it was very soon. But not today! Today would be too soon! Right? Maybe? Or….
Sinking into him, she returned his kiss, wanting more, tongue thrusting with tongue and she wiggled hard against him. It had been months since other things had thrusted into other places and she couldn’t wait. In fact, she almost had to physically stop herself from dry humping his hard blue jeaned leg. His erection pressed into her and a moan of need escaped her.
Charlie neighed in their ears and they both stepped backed, startled, and laughed.
“Well,” Jeb said, looking at her, tipping her chin with one finger to meet his eyes. “That happened.”
“Can it happen again, like really soon?” she asked, voice ragged and thick with longing. She’d thought other men could kiss why? No reason anymore. She had never been this well and properly kissed before. All she wanted was more. Why could she not have more?
Chuckling, Jeb pulled her closer and kissed the top of her head, “Let’s sleep on it first, and then we’ll see where it goes. I think we both have a full day of work ahead of us.”
Oh yeah, work. Boss. How could she have forgotten? Suddenly she felt a bit chastised, even though he technically started it. But she’d begged for more, wanted more, wanted him. Damn work.